Who among us doesn’t drive at night,?

We all know driving at night presents a whole new ball game to us drivers. Did you know pilots actually have to pass a whole new licence so they can fly at night?  Relax, I am sure there wont be any new laws which will require us to pass our driving tests at night.( i hope).

It is clear  driving at night means that you can’t see as much as during the day. (That one is a no-brainer). Its best to have a mental checklist when driving at night. Like making sure your headlights, and break lights (Yes I mean both of them)  are actually working. Dont forget about the High beams they might important, especially for navigating dark country roads or back alleys (and even for finding street numbers!)

If you borrow your mates car take a few minutes to check the basics like how to turn  the lights on and off and where the high beam switch is located. I drove my sister’s Astra the other day and the lights on that car are on a funny switch right next to the ingition, but it was unclear whether I had them on full or high beams.

Make sure you know where you are going, (pretty obvious) yet a all of us set of on unfamiliar journeys at night further complicating the situation. Invest in a GPS they are pretty cheap these days. I don’t leave home without it. It has been known to drive me in circles but overall she – my pommy lady friend (I don’t think I chose that accent!) gets me where I need to go.

Using low beam is not only a good idea its actually part of the road rules. If another vehicle is ahead within 200 meters keep your lights on low beam. There are a few hotshots who drive around with their fog lights on in normal evening driving conditions, that is very inconsiderate and annoying.

You must keep your headlights on low beam if a vehicle ahead of you is within 200 metres – watch out for traffic approaching you as well as vehicles ahead of you in your lane.

If someone dazzles you with their high beam, slow down, move towards the left of your lane and lower your eyes to the road. Stop if you can’t see where you’re going.

And Remember: “Reflective posts are there to help you” – Red reflectors are on the left and white are on the right

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 11:27 pm and is filed under Driving School Pages. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.